Fluid-flow directing apparatus



San. 18, 1966 B. J. HELM ETAL 3,229,718

FLUID-FLOW DIRECTING APPARATUS Filed April 8, 1965 BOBBY J. HELM WOODROWH. BL EDS OE /NVE/V TORS ,4 TTORNEVS United States Patent 3,229,718FLUID-FLOW DIRECTING APPARATUS Bobby J. Helm, Pasadena, Calif., andWoodrow W. Bledsoe, Mesquite, Tex., assignors to Progress-O-Matic,Incorporated, a corporation of California Filed Apr. 8, 1963, Ser. No.271,394 2 Claims. (Cl. 137-608) The present invention relates to afluid-flow directing apparatus and more particularly to such anapparatus selectively adjustable to direct a fluid stream throughassociated equipment and alternatively to by-pass the equipment with thefluid stream.

The apparatus was invented in response to problems encountered inconnection with the cleaning of cotton borne in an air stream and issuitably illustrated by reference to such an operational environment andpurpose. When cotton is picked, it is normally accompanied by variousamounts of leaves, twigs, debris and other extraneous materialcollectively referred to as trash The extent of such trash variesgreatly as a result of the picking conditions and the method of pickingemployed. Thus, at times it is necessary to remove large quantities oftrash while at other times no such rem-oval is necessary. Since trashremoval requires power, wears the trash removing equipment, and tends tolower the grade of the cotton, it has been recognized -a-s desirable toavoid when not needed. Cotton cleaners, whether mounted in mobile cottonpickers or gleaners or in stationary installations, such as cotton gins,normally receive the cotton and trash in air stream, segregate the trashfrom the cotton for independent discharge, and return the cotton to theair stream for subsequent accumulation, transport, storage, orprocessing. The air strea-m is normally created by connecting a conduithaving the cleaner as a part thereof to the intake of a blower. Thus,cotton is drawn into the conduit and carried through the cleaner on itsway to the blower, in advance of which it is deflected to avoid directengagement with the blower. The cleaners are normally integral parts ofsuch conduits and, where employed, are continuously utilized wheneverthe air stream is in operation. No suitable structure has been availablefor quickly and easily by-passing such cleaners when cotton is handledwhich requires no trash removal and for quickly and easily redirectingthe air `stream through the cleaner when trash removal is desired.

An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide an improvedfluid-flow directing apparatus.

Another object is to provide a huid-dow directing apparatus adjustableot direct fluid and uid-borne material through associated equipment andto by-pass such equipment by readjustment of the apparatus.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for directing an air `streamand material borne by the air stream into processing equipment and toby-.pass such equipment by simple and easily performed re-adjustment ofthe apparatus.

Another object is to provide such apparatus that is fully eifective inaccomplishing its directing `and by-passing functions with a minimum ofcongestion, entanglement, and/ or clogging.

Another object is to provide such an apparatus which in directing andby-passing adjustment has a minimum of resistance to iiow therethrough.

Another object is to provide a fluid-flow directing apparatus of thecharacter described which is economical to produce, efficient to employ,durable, and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent in the subsequentdescription in the specification.

In the drawing:

Patented Jan. 18, 1966 FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cotton cleanerincorporating the iluid-ilow directing apparatus of the presentinvention and shown in association with a fragmentarily representedintake conduit, outlet conduit, and debris discharge conduit.

FIG. 2 is a transverse section taken through the structure shown in FIG.1 on line 2-2.

Referring in greater `detail to the drawing, a cotton cleaner is shownat 10 connected to an upwardly extended inlet conduit 11, an outwardlyextended outlet conduit 12, and a downwardly extended debris dischargingconduit 13. The cleaner and its associated conduits may be mobile, .asemployed in cotton .pickers and gleaners, or stationary, as employed incotton gins and other cotton processing equipment.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the inlet conduit 11 and the outlet conduit 12are in substantially right angular relation and have spaced endsconnected to the housing 10 providing relative adjacent or inner edges15 and 16 and relative remote or outer edges 17 and 18, to whichreference is subsequently made. Said inner edges of the conduits areinterconnected by an oblique wall 19 of the housing 10. The housing alsoemploys a bottom wall 20, opposite side walls 21 and 22, a top wall 23,and bevelled corner walls 25 which, in association with front and rearwalls 26 and 27, define a chamber 28 which is air tight except forcommunication with the conduits 11, 12, and 13. The designated walls areconveniently formed of sh-eet metal and in addition to their air andcotton confining function preferably provide sufficient strength tosupport bearings utilized in the mounting of certain internal structureto which reference iS now made.

A pair of drive lshafts 30 are journaled between the front and rearwalls 26 and 27 in suitable bearings 31 mounted on said walls. As shown,one o-f the shafts is located centrally near the top of the housing andthe other shaft is located in the lower portion of the housing. Eachshaft mounts a cleaning cylinder 32 -for unitary rotation therewithwhich has peripherally extended saw teeth 33. Such cleaning cylindersare well known in the art and are not here described in greater detail.During operation, the upper most cleaning cylinder is rotated in acounterclockwise direction while the lower cylinder is rotated in theopposite direction.

Substantially equidistant fromthe walls 21, 23, and 24, a doi-ting shaft35 is rotatably mounted between the front and rear walls 26 and 27 insimilar bearings 36. A doffer 37 of any suitable form is mounted on thedoing shaft in a position in close proximity to the periphery of theupper cleaning cylinder 32. During operation, the doffer is rotated in aclockwise direction, as viewed, at a peripheral velocity substantiallygreater than the peripheral velocity of the cleaning cylinder. A doftingbar 40 is rigidly mounted between the front and rear walls 26 and 27closely adjacent to the periphery of the upper cleaning cylinder and infollowing relation to the doffer 37 with respect to the direction ofcylinder rotation. As is well known in the art, a plurality of gridsections 41 are similarly rigidly mounted in the housing adjacent to theperiphery of the upper cleaning cylinders and in following relation tothe doiiing bar.

As will be understood, a blower, not shown, is utilized to cause a highvelocity air stream to move into the housin-g 1t) through the inletconduit 11 and out of the housing through the outlet conduit 12. Forreasons soon to become apparent, an auxiliary wall 45 is mounted betweenthe front and rear walls 26 and 27 and is extended inwardly of thehousing 10 from the outer edge 17 of the inlet conduit 11 andconstitutes a conduit extension. It has been found convenient tocontinue the wall 40 arcuately about the lower peripheralv portion ofthe cleaning cylinder 32 in order to form a huller bar for the cleaner.Somewhat similarly, an auxiliary wall 46 is mounted between the Ifrontand rear walls 26 and 27 and is extended inwardly of the housing Ifromthe outer edge 18 of the outlet conduit. To avoid excessive discharge ofair and air borne cotton out of the debris conduit 13, an air lseal 47is mounted on the wall 22 and conveniently takes the form of a flexibleap of belting material held in the position shown bly any suitablebracket means. Since a small amount of cotton sometimes inadvertentlypasses the air seal 47, it is` also desirable to utilize a reclaimedbrush 16 mounted in the position shown to return such cotton against thelower cleaning cylinder so it can be snagged by the saw teeth andsalvaged while debris descends out of the conduit 13.

To facilitate the don-g operation, a compression plate 50 is mounted onthe upper wall 23 between .the front and rear wallsf26 and 27 inadjacent relation to the periphery of the cylinder 32 and duringoperation serves to compress cotton carried by the cylinder against theteeth immediately prior to engagement by the doifer 37.

Substantially mid-way between the inlet of the inlet conduit 11 to 4thehousing 10 and the outlet of the outlet conduit 12, a pair of shafts 55are mounted between the front and rear walls 26 and 27 by bearings 56-borne by said walls. It will be noted that one shaft is above the other,that the lower shaft is preferably substantially aligned with the inneredge 15 of the inlet conduit 11 and is spaced from the oblique wall 19approximately the width of tlhe inlet conduit. The other shaft is inspaced adjacent relation to the lower shaft but is upwardly and inwardlythereof. A brame 57 of sheet metal or the like is rigidly mounted on thelower shaft and downwardly extended therefrom. The baffle 57 is of suchlength that it can be brought into alternate engagement with the obliquewall 19 and the auxiliary wall 45 which actually are extensions of theinlet conduit 11 and can be regarded. A baffle 58 of similar material isrigidly mounted on the upper shaft land extended therefrom into theoutlet of the outlet conduit 12. The baffle 58 is of 1sufcient length topermit alternate with the extended end thereof with the inner ed-ge 16of the outlet conduit and the auxiliary Wall 46. The extended end of thebaifle 58 is preferably slightly angled toward the outlet conduit tofacilitate direction of air and air borne cotton thereto. The shafts 55are spaced slightly to permit ease of operation. The resulting gap isIblocked by mounting a stationary baile 59 rigidly between the frontandy rear Wallis 26 and 27 in bridging relation to said gap.

To permit convenient positioning of the baffles 57 and 58, handles 65are radially extended from the shaft 55 exteriorly of the housing 10 andare each provided with suitable latching means 66 for releasably holdingthe handles in positions corresponding to the alternate positions oftheir respective baffles.

Operation The operation of the fluid-flow directing apparatus of thepresent invention is believed to be readily apparent and is brieflysummarized at this point. Assuming that cotton, not shown, having alarge proportion of trash mixed therewith is being drawn in air streaminwardly through the inlet conduit 11 for cleaning and subsequentdischarge of the cotton in air stream through the outlet conduit 12, thehandles 65 are positioned to locate their baffles 57 and 58 in thepositions shown in full line in FIG. 2. The entering air stream with itscotton impinges on the periphery of the upper cleaning cylinder 32 wherethe cotton is snagged by the teeth 33. As the cylinder rotates, trash isthrown from the cylinder in the well known manner. Such trash is alsoaccompanied by small amounts of cotton and descends onto the lowercleaning cylinder where the cotton is again snagged by the teeth. As thelower cylinder rotates, such cotton and accompanying debris are carriedunder the air seal 47. The air seal aids in separating the trash fromthe cotton for gravitationally descent of the trash. The reclaimer brushfacilitates maintenanceI of the cotton on the t-eeth for subsequentrecovery. The trash descends through the debris conduit 13 and isdischarged. The cotton snagged on the teeth of the lower cylindercontinues back into the air stream of the inlet conduit which dofts thecotton and carries it upwardly for re-engagement with the teeth of theupper cylinder. Cotton snagged by the teeth of the upper cylinder isdoffed by the doffer 37 and discharged into the air stream passing fromthe housing out the outlet conduit 12. It is to be understood that thedescribed cleaning operation is not an essential part of the presentinvention but typies an operation requiring the directing of the fluidstream and carried material into a processing apparatus. The obliquedisposition of the stationary bamle 59 facilitates the directing of theincoming air stream properly against the upper cylinder 32.

When the operator of the described apparatus notes that cotton enteringthrough the inlet conduit 11 is so clean that it should by-pass thecleaner, the handles 65 are relocated to pivot the bai-Hes 57 and 58against the outer edges 17 and 18 of their respective inlet conduits.Actually, the bales engage they auxiliary walls 45 and 46 which areregarded as inward extensions of said outer edges. So arranged, the airpassing in the inlet conduit 11 and out the outlet conduit 12 tends tohold the ballles 57 and 58 in position. The air stream and its materialeffectively by-passes the cleaning structure in the chamber 28 with theoblique wall 19 and the baflles 57 and 58 together with the front andrear walls 26 and 27 constituting a by-pass conduit. This by-passconduit can be visualized as having an opening between the auxiliarywalls 45 and 46 which communicates with the chamber 28 and over whichthe housing 10 is mounted. The opening is closed by positioning thebatiles in the dashed line position and opened and air directed in andback out of said opening and the chamber by positioning the batiles inthe full line position shown in FIG. 2.

Manipulation of the handles 65 permits instant positioning of thebaffles 57 and 58. Thus, an operator can immediately condition thedescribed apparatus to direct the air stream and air borne cotton andtrash into the chamber 28 where it is processed in the manner described.Alternatively, the operator can position the bailles completely toby-pass the cleaning operation so that clean cotton need not be reducedin gradel by the action of the saw teeth and associated structure andthe loss of power required for cleaning as Well as the obvious wear onthe cleaning equipment can be avoided.

The huid-flow directing apparatus of the present invention has provedhighly effective in the described environment but is not limited to suchutilization. The baffles in their association with the oblique wall 19,and the inner and outer edges of the inlet conduit 11 and the outletconduit 12 provide effective fluid stream directing or bypassing asdetermined by baffle adjustment.

Although the invention has been herein shown and described in what isconceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it isrecognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of theinvention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed hereinbut is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace anyand all equivalent devices and apparatus.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of an elongated fluid conduit having opposite walls,a pair of baffles, means mounting the baffles for pivotal movement aboutadjacent axes transversely of the conduit intermediate the walls, saidbales being oppositely extended from their respective axeslongitudinally of the conduit and pivotal between d-eilecting positionsin engagement with one of the walls and by-pass positions substantiallyparallel to said wall, and a detlector plate rigidly mounted in theconduit between the axes of the baffles in bridging relation between thebales and extended obliquely away from the Wall engaged by the bafeswhen the baffles are in deecting positions.

2. The combination of a housing having a chamber dened by a plurality ofinterconnected walls, a iluid inlet, and a fluid outlet, the inlet andoutlet being in substantially right angular relation and there being awall of the housing obliquely extended therebetween; a pair of adjacentshafts mounted in substantially parallel relation to the oblique wallbetween the inlet and the outlet; uid obstructions mounted adjacent tothe inlet and to the outlet and inwardly extended opposite to theirrespective inlet and outlet from the oblique wall; and a pair of batllesindividually mounted on the shafts and oppositely extended therefrom forpivotal movement between positions with 15 their extended ends engageswith said oblique wall adjacent to the inlet and outlet respectively todirect lluid from the inlet into the chamber and from the chamber intothe outlet and to positions substantially parallel to said oblique Walland their extended ends engaged with respective obstructions with theoblique wall defining a conduit directly from the inlet to the outlet,theI pivotally mounted baiiles being spaced to form a gap therebetween;a ixed baille rigidly mounted in the housing in bridging relation tosaid gap and directed toward said chamber obliquely to the pivotalbaies.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 462,425 11/ 1891Brennan 137-625.44 X 850,716 4/1907 Andrews 137-612 X 1,262,282 4/1918Stuckwisch 137-5991 X 1,937,597 12/1933 Schmidt 137-5991 3,084,7154/1963 Scharres 251-173 X M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Examiner.

1. THE COMBINATION OF AN ELONGATED FLUID CONDUIT HAVING OPPOSITE WALLS,A PAIR OF BAFFLES, MEANS MOUNTING THE BAFFLES FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ABOUTADJACENT AXES TRANSVERSELY OF THE CONDUIT INTERMEDIATE THE WALLS, SAIDBAFFLES BEING OPPOSITELY EXTENDED FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE AXESLONGITUDINALLY OF THE CONDUIT AND PIVOTAL BETWEEN DEFLECTING POSITIONSIN ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE OF THE WALLS AND BY-PASS POSITIONS SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLEL TO SAID WALL, AND A DEFLECTOR PLATE RIGIDLY MOUNTED IN THECONDUIT BETWEN THE AXES OF THE BAFFLES IN BRIDGING RELATION BETWEEN THEBAFFLES AND EXTENDED OBLIQUELY AWAY FROM THE WALL ENGAGED BY THE BAFFLESWHEN THE BAFFLES ARE IN DEFLECTING POSITIONS.